Time of Dying
by ThaDoctor17
Summary: Hinata is fighting a losing battle with Pein, trying to stall long enough for Naruto to realize what needs to be done. She thinks back to her own life. Is this her death? Is Naruto worth it? NaruHina, kind of dark, bloody, graphic, Oneshot.


_On the ground I lay, motionless in pain._

Blood dripped from Hinata's eyebrow as she groaned, attempting to lift her battered body. Although her mind screamed at her body to move, it refused, instead preferring to stay where it was, face down in pool of its own blood.

Was this where her story would end? On a battlefield she was never meant to step foot on?

Her head filled with images.

_I can see my life flashing before my eyes._

Father, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Kurenai-sensei, Hanabi… what would they think? Was she just sacrificing herself for nothing? Was she just throwing everything away? Why was she even in this fight?

Naruto… Naruto was the reason. He was the reason for almost everything she had done for the last 3 years of her life. He was what she was fighting for.

But it felt so surreal. On this battlefield, fighting this unwinnable fight, how had she even gotten here?

_Did I fall asleep? Is this all a dream?_

Hinata attempted to lift herself once again. Her muscles ached, her head throbbed, her chakra seemed to be running away from her. She screamed in agony as her broken bones splintered more.

_Wake me up; I'm living a nightmare!_

She tried ignoring the pain. She fought through her own inhibitions. She wasn't going down like this, face in the dirt, helpless.

_I will not die!_

She made it to her knees, her arms hanging at her sides, blood dripping from her fingertips.

_I will not die!_

She moved one knee back slightly and straightened her knees, tensing her whole legs to do so.

_I will survive!_

She finally reached her feet, wavering slightly in her stance. She tightened hands into fists and positioned her body for Jyuuken.

_I will not die; I'll wait here for you!_

Her eyes glanced to Naruto, on his knees, blank face, staring helplessly at their enemy. Hinata's resolve strengthened again. That's who this was for. Naruto.

_I feel alive, when you're beside me!_

She just needed to hold Pein off long enough for Naruto to realize what he needed to do. Naruto finally needed her. She wasn't going to let a broken body stop her from saving him for a change.

_I will not die, I'll wait here for you!_

Pein quickly moved towards her, attacking her again. His hand hit her chest, shattering her rib cage, and she stumbled back several feet, but kept her footing. She stayed standing, broken, because she had to. She couldn't do this forever, though.

_In my time of dying!_

Despite her best efforts, blood escaped her mouth as she coughed bits of bone out of her lungs. After coughing, she looked up, trying to find Pein again, but before she could his foot collided with the back of her head, slamming it straight against the bed of rocks under her feet.

_On this bed I lay, losing everything._

Her mind went blank and her memories took over her consciousness.

The first time she saw Naruto, running around as a crazy little kid. He seemed so happy on the outside, but there was more to it. Hinata saw it; she saw his pain. She saw what no one else could; his heart. From that moment, she prayed. She prayed that one day that she could be strong enough to still be happy, despite being so broken inside.

Her head was lost in itself. She couldn't even feel pain anymore. Everything had gone numb. She was awake, but she wasn't on a battlefield anymore, she was in her home.

Father was outside with Hanabi, training. Hinata was watching from deck that surrounded the sparring area. Father was teaching Hanabi things, things he had never bothered to show his useless first-born daughter. She felt so useless, so hated, even by her own Father.

_I can see my life passing me by…_

Every good memory seemed to be of Naruto. Watching him trying so hard every day was what kept her sane. She always admired Naruto's will. Maybe she envied him; his ability to stay strong no matter what happened. Hinata always just gave up. She didn't argue with Father when he made Hanabi the heir, she just took it as something else that went wrong.

Naruto never did that. Naruto was so stubborn; he fought anything and everything he didn't like. It never got him anywhere, because no one ever listened, but he tried. To Hinata, that was everything, because she had never tried so hard at anything. She wished she could, but… what if she failed? Naruto never seemed to care, but she did. She envied him so much for that.

_Was it all too much...?_

That was all before though. She had become a woman now. She had stood up to Father, and she had stood up to Neji, and she had gone on missions, and fought other Shinobi, and she had won. She had finally learned to fight for what mattered; and she learned it from Naruto.

If it weren't for Naruto, she'd still be that little shy girl, standing in the corner, hoping no one noticed her or asked her to do anything. She'd still be at the bottom of the Hyuuga family, doing nothing but cooking and cleaning all day.

She had come so far… but was it far enough?

_...or just not enough?_

Hinata's eyes snapped open as a foot smashed into her back, arching her whole body backwards and digging it into the rocks. Her mouth opened to scream, but there was no air in her lungs to do so, no voice left to speak of. Worse of all, Naruto was still on his knees, staring blankly at her.

_Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare!_

Hinata wasn't done though. She was practically dead, and her body wouldn't move. She could hear Pein laughing maniacally above her as he removed his foot from her back.

She was still alive.

_I will not die!_

She took a deep breath.

_I will not die!_

She could still do one thing.

_I will survive!_

She opened her mouth and exhaled, screaming.

_I will not die!_

**"NA-"**

_I'll wait here for you!_

**"-RU-"**

_I feel alive, when you're beside me!_

**"-TO!"**

_I will not die!_

Pein's foot quickly moved to the back of her head, smashing her face into the already blood-soaked earth beneath her.

_I'll wait here for you!_

Her face burned, the pain slowly numbing as blood poured out of her nose, mouth and eyes. Pein laughed again. She could feel him staring down at her even better than she could feel anything else. The sound of his laughter hurt more than the pain he was causing her physically.

Maybe Naruto was too far gone to ever snap back after what he'd seen. Maybe all her fighting was for naught.

_...in my time of dying!_

Just as that thought began to sink in, Pein's laughter was replaced with a painful grunt and a rush of wind behind her.

_I will not die!_

She couldn't move to look, but she could hear Naruto screaming and the ground shaking to her right, as Naruto's fists pounded the ground body of their enemy.

_I'll wait her for you!_

Pein's grunts were barely audible over Naruto's fists cracking his bones.

_I feel alive, when you're beside me._

Suddenly, Hinata felt a very warm sensation in the back of her head, and then her face, and back. Everything stopped hurting. Hinata couldn't feel anything, her whole body went numb and she began losing consciousness.

_I will not die!_

Right before she was completely out of it, she could feel someone turning her over and a young woman's voice telling her she'd be okay soon. Sakura…

_I'll wait here for you… in my time of dying._


End file.
